Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 117.djvu/2057

 117 STAT. 2038

PUBLIC LAW 108–169—DEC. 6, 2003 ‘‘(B) If an applicant for a grant under the first section 33 proposes to purchase, with assistance provided under the grant, new equipment or systems that do not meet or exceed applicable voluntary consensus standards, the applicant shall include in the application an explanation of why such equipment or systems will serve the needs of the applicant better than equipment or systems that do meet or exceed such standards. ‘‘(C) In making a determination whether or not to waive the requirement under subparagraph (A) with respect to a specific standard, the Administrator shall, to the greatest extent practicable— ‘‘(i) consult with grant applicants and other members of the fire services regarding the impact on fire departments of the requirement to meet or exceed the specific standard; ‘‘(ii) take into consideration the explanation provided by the applicant under subparagraph (B); and ‘‘(iii) seek to minimize the impact of the requirement to meet or exceed the specific standard on the applicant, particularly if meeting the standard would impose additional costs. ‘‘(D) Applicants that apply for a grant under the terms of subparagraph (B) may include a second grant request in the application to be considered by the Administrator in the event that the Administrator does not approve the primary grant request on the grounds of the equipment not meeting applicable voluntary consensus standards.’’.

SEC. 203. COORDINATION OF RESPONSE TO NATIONAL EMERGENCY.

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VerDate 11-MAY-2000

10:15 Aug 27, 2004

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 10 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2209) is amended— (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following: ‘‘(b) MUTUAL AID SYSTEMS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall provide technical assistance and training to State and local fire service officials to establish nationwide and State mutual aid systems for dealing with national emergencies that— ‘‘(A) include threat assessment and equipment deployment strategies; ‘‘(B) include means of collecting asset and resource information to provide accurate and timely data for regional deployment; and ‘‘(C) are consistent with the Federal Response Plan. ‘‘(2) MODEL MUTUAL AID PLANS.—The Administrator shall develop and make available to State and local fire service officials model mutual aid plans for both intrastate and interstate assistance.’’. (b) REPORT ON STRATEGIC NEEDS.—Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration shall report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Science on the need for a strategy concerning deployment of volunteers and emergency response personnel (as defined in section 6 of the Firefighters’ Safety Study Act (15

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